Sometimes people respond to the first comment when they are actually responding to the OP because they feel that their own opinion is so much more important than anyone else's that it should be seen at the top.

Oh stop. Why do some people make such a big deal about rushing the court or field? It's college sports and rivalries and I am all for rushing the court or field when you beat your rival. I want M fans to do it every time UM beats OSU.

I think rushing the field/court every time you beat a rival is a little over the top. Then it's more about being able to say you rushed the field rather than a genuine outpouring of elation. However, making a post to complain about it is pretty dumb.

People who complain about rushing the court/field either were never a part of a college student section, or don't remember what it's like to be 18-21, probably drunk, and excited your team just won a big game.

It's harmless as long as the players are protected and everyone behaves themselves. Let the kids have fun.

I disagree to an extent. I am not completely against court rushing, but I think it is way overdone now. For instance, Iowa State rushing the court when they beat us this year. Not a rivalry game and it was so early in the season that the rankings didn't mean anything. What was the point? I'm not saying it's a safety issue, I just think it should actually mean something. For instance, I know a lot of IU fans and there was a discussion during the game last month about whether IU would rush the court after the game. One guy thought they should because it was a big win for them (at the time). I thought it would be ridiculous for a team that won the conference last year to rush the court against a non-rival that never won in Bloomington anyway.

All that said, I have no problem with UNC rushing the court tonight. They have been down by their standards lately and this is the biggest rivalry in basketball. It was a great win for them and probably comes close to sealing their tournament bid. That is worth rushing the court for.

Maybe I imagined it, but I seem to remember we were in the freaking national championship game last season, on top of the fact that former UM coach Johnny Orr is the winningest coach in ISU history and undoubtedly the fans there also got a kick out of beating us for that reason.

I'm upvoting you not because I agree with your stance completely, but because you took the time to write out a thoughtful and complete non-snarky response and some jackass downvoted you...simply because he or she probably disagrees with you.

Its a trend that is disturbing on MGoBlog lately. People are too quick to hit the downvote button rather than have a logical and spirited discussion. I mean...these are discussion boards, aren't they?

I'm a huge Tar Heels fan and all this week the national media has been flaunting Duke and Parker in our faces, giving the Heels no chances. Even here I saw some posters predicting Duke would win by double digits. Fans get pumped when we beat a team when no one thought they had a chance!

I get your point, but those people who didn't give them a chance are idiots. They were 2.5 point underdogs. Plenty of people were giving them a chance. Regardless I don't really care who rushes the court at this point. The importance of it has long been dead. Any decent win now, and students rush the court. It's not a big deal, just very different than it used to be.

Here come the haters... With the fact that I will be in college in about a year and a half, I completely changed my stance on this issue. It shouldn't matter that Carolina is a historic program, this is about letting the college kids have fun. Especially in a huge rivalry game as such, the kids who go there and create a lively atmosphere for the home team should be rewarded when they win... The history of the program or whether they are good or bad should not determine whether the students should rush the court.

Indiana rushed the court after beating Wisky this season and I texted my buddy and asked him what he thought of the court rushing. His response was that it is IU and they should act like they've been there before. They should expect to beat everyone who comes into Assembly Hall. I think UNC falls into that same category.

I certainly don't have a problem with it and I think too much is made out of it. Looking at the context of the victory, UNC has been down this year. You get a win over a rival, rush the court. This is equally similar to when several students, including myself, rush the field after beating Russel Wilson Badgers.

Similar to what others brought up about Indiana rushing the court vs. Wisconsin or Michigan rushing the field vs. Ohio State, it's all about the context of victory. In both cases, Michigan and Indiana had lost several games in a row to the opposition. Thus getting a win in some time is a cause for celebration.

Admonishing students over rushing the court or field (depending on the sport) might be one of the most ridiculous things I've seen here. First we bitch that our home field advantadge isn't that great because people dont stand up and yell enough and then we turn around and complain when the fans that DO get excited (students) are happy and rush the court.

So.Fucking.What.

Good for them. I dont give a damn if they want to rush the field after every game - football and basketball are suppose to be FUN - not a display of proper fan etiquitte - and the idea that acting TOO excited is somehow beneath people is just nuts.

The only one I remember being bad was when we beat Georgetown in 2009ish. They were only ranked 15 and we might have even been favored. But some people wanted to rush the court.... I remember sitting there with a group of friends as half the Maize Rage went and the other half of us just being like "WTF."

It's one of the biggest rivalries in American sports, let alone college sports (second only to The Game, of course), and Duke was favored. Also, although UNC has really come alive in the past few weeks, I think their fans generally see this as a down year. At UNC, anything other than an ACC championship and a #1 seed is a disappointment.